Opposites Attract
by fanficlaire
Summary: Dean Winchester is the kid who's been in one two many fights, can't stay awake in class, and has everyone believing that he's screwed up his entire life. Even he's starting to believe it- until he meets Castiel Novak, a sheltered, shy transfer from the local private school, and everything changes.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

Castiel stood alone at the bus stop.

Everyone else had earbuds in. Nobody seemed to want to talk. That was okay with Castiel. He wasn't exactly the most social person when it came to strangers.

It was colder out than he had imagined, and he wished he'd brought a coat. Unfortunately, the only coat he had was his old trench coat, and he didn't think that was something people wore to public school.

Castiel shifted from foot to foot, anxiously awaiting the bus. He wasn't looking forward to this day. His brother Gabriel has told him all kinds of stories about public school, and Castiel was never sure what was true.

The two girls at his stop were whispering to each other. They laughed. The boy standing by the stop sign kicked a rock back and forth between his feet.

The others got on the bus first. Castiel followed, already nervous for the day. Where was he supposed to sit on the bus, anyways? Glancing around, he was relieved to find that there were plently of empty seats. He sat alone, staring out the frosty bus window.

He wasn't quite ready to fit in yet.

Castiel struggled to fit his bag into his locker. He realized that he had packed too many books, but he hadn't had a clue what to bring. He managed to dig out his chemisty book and his glasses before the warning bell rang.

Three minutes to get to his chemistry class, and he hadn't the faintest idea where it was.

Castiel slammed his locker shut in a desperate attempt to fit his backpack inside. The locker didn't quite close, but it was good enough.

He ran his fingers through his dark hair, messing up the careful part his mother had encouraged that morning. His schedule read Room A224. The A section... Castiel wandered the halls. 2 minutes. Upon finding the A section, he realized that he was on the wrong floor.

1 minute. He took the stairs two at a time, earning him a judgemental look from a blonde heading the opposite direction.

30 seconds. Oh God, what if he was late on the first day, what if he got detention, what if everyone laughed, what if...

A224. Thank god. Castiel slipped into the classroom, looking around. For the second time that day he was faced with the same decision: where to sit.

There were two open seats. One was next to a small, awkward looking kid with messy brown hair who had on a shirt that said "you can't spell a-w-e-s-o-m-e without m-e."

The other was in the back. Castiel was wary of sitting in the back, but this stranger seemed preferable to the awkward kid, and with only a few seconds to the bell he headed to the back and sat next to the stranger, whose face was hidden and who seemed to be catching a last minute nap.

"DING. DING. DING."

The sharp noises of the schoolbell pierced through Castiel's ear. Apparently, they did the same to mystery guy on his left, who sat up abruptly, wincing.

Mystery guy rubbed his eyes, and then opened them, reavealing them to be a piercing shade of green. His hood fell away revealing a crop of sandy-blonde hair, and a splay of freckles across his cheeks.

The guy turned towards Castiel, raising an eyebrow.

"What're you looking at?" He spat.

"Nothing- nothing," Castiel replied defensively.

The guy nodded and reached down to lace up one of his well-worn hunting boots.

"I've never seen you before. You switch into this class?" he inquired.

"No, I uh, I used to go to a private school, St. Mary's, but they stop at 10th grade. So uh, I just got all my forms in and stuff a little late, and missed the first couple of weeks."

"Oh," was his only reply. There was a long uncomfortable pause. The teacher of the class was busy on his computer, and the rest of his classmates were talking with their friends. Castiel didn't have any friends to talk to, so he sat awkwardly staring up at the ceiling, listening to the conversations around him.

"Dean Winchester, I saw that!" came a voice from the front of the room. The teacher had apparently been paying more attention to the class than Castiel thought, because he had caught the mystery guy- Dean Winchester, apparently- flicking his gum up onto the ceiling.

Dean just smiled back at her. "My apologies, Ms. Mills," he said.

The class snickered a little.

"Alright, let's get to work. Enough chit-chat. Everyone will be working with the person next to them today. We're going to start our assignment on The Great Gatsby. You and your partner will hopefully be finished in a couple of days, since we've been reading this book for a while now. You two need to each analyze the charachter of Jay Gatsby and compare your views on his actions. Then you'll be turning in a collaborative essay. So, get to work!" Ms. Mills was back to her computer as quickly as she'd left it.

"So, uh, looks like it's you and me, then?" Castiel said to his newfound partner.

"Guess so," said Dean, yawning lazily. "So, let's do some homework, uh, wait. What's your name?"

Castiel blinked. "What? My- oh. I'm Castiel."

"Weird name."

"It's a family thing."

"Yeah, figures. Alright, Cas. Let's analyze."

"It's- Nevermind."

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"Nothing. It's just, you're the first person who's ever called me Cas."

"What, you've never been nicknamed?" Dean laughed. "Must've been pretty serious, that old school of yours."

Cas smiled. Cas. He liked it. He decided that it suited him in this place.

"Yeah, this is all pretty new," He told Dean.


	2. Chapter 2

The lunchroom was crowded, and Cas was overwhelmed. He didn't really have any friends yet. He'd only talked to one person, Dean, so that didn't exactly count.

Weaving through the tables, Cas looked for an open seat. Nothing. He began to grow a little bit nervous as people's eyes began to linger on him. There was nowhere to go, he didn't know anyone, and what was he supposed to do, and his hands were shaking-

Cas sat down at the end of a table. Not making eye contact with the guys to his left, he sat and ate his pizza. He could feel the gaze of the jocks, laughing at the loner at the end of their table.

Cas's face grew red as he ate. He told himself that it was okay, he would have friends tomorrow to sit with, he just had to make it through half an hour. But that half an hour felt like eternity when the guys began to throw their food at him.

"Hey, loner boy! How's it going?" called a brunette guy as he threw his bag of chips towards Cas. "Enjoying your time at our table?"

Cas's eye began to water. He turned away, hiding his face. He hated this, hated it, but what other choice did he have? No matter where he sat, he was a stranger in this place. Another chip hit him in the back. Cas braced himself for another wave of projectile doritoes, but a familiar voice caused him to look up.

"What do you assholes think you're doing?"

Cas recognized the voice, but he was confused. He had no friends here. Who would be sticking up for him?

"Why the hell would you torment this kid? It's his first day at this school, you sons of bitches! You can all go to hell!" Screamed the voice of no one else but Dean Winchester.

"Get out of here, punk," scoffed the jock.

"Not until you leave my friend alone!" Dean spat.

My friend? Thought Cas with a hint of a smile. Dean Winchester, my friend.

"Leave us alone, screw up," said another.

"No," Dean firmly responded.

The jocks had apparently had enough of the "freaks" at their table. The first guy stood up and punched Dean, square in the jaw. Cas gasped as Dean stumbled, one hand gripping the side of his face. Dean backed up, shaking with anger.

"C'mon, Cas." Dean commanded. "Let's go." He was eerily calm as he grabbed Cas's arm and pulled him out of the cafeteria doors and into the courtyard.

Once they were in the courtyard, Cas sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands. He rubbed at his eyes, and then slowly dragged his hands away from his face. He sighed, and turned towards Dean.

"Why are people like that?" Cas asked.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair.

"Because people are assholes. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Dean, that guy just punched you! Are you okay?" Cas stammered. "You barely even know me... You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did." Dean stated.

Cas raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because..." Dean faltered. "Because you remind me of myself. Because you didn't do anything to deserve what they were giving you. Because... even though I barely know you, I couldn't let someone like you be messed with by someone like them."

"Someone like me?" Cas said. "What kind of people are 'like me', exactly?"

"You know," said Dean. "Quiet, but smart. Like the nerdy kid from the breakfast club. Nobody to stick up for you. I just felt like... Like I should be the one to stick up for you."

Cas looked up at Dean."Thank you. I could... I could use a friend." He smiled, and then paused and said"I, uh- I didn't understand that reference."

Dean looked confused. "Which reference?"

"The Breakfast Club reference."

"What are you talking about, Cas? You telling me you've never seen the Breakfast Club?

"No. My parents don't allow me to watch many movies. They're very strict, Dean. They have a lot of rules for me." Cas gazed at Dean in confusion.

"Castiel Novak, I think it's time you learn to break the rules," Dean said with a wink.


End file.
